1988–89 National Division 3


The 1988–89 National Division 3 was the second season of the third tier of the English rugby union league system, the Courage Clubs Championship, currently known as National League 1. New clubs to the division included Askeans and Rugby who were promoted from tier 4 and there was no relegation from tier 2 at the end of the previous season.
Plymouth Albion won all their eleven matches and won promotion to the 1989–90 National Division 2. Rugby Lions finished second, winning ten of their eleven matches, and were also promoted. Metropolitan Police and Maidstone finished in the bottom two places and both clubs were relegated to the 1989–90 Area League South with Metropolitan Police relegated on points difference and Maidstone losing all of their matches.

Structure

Each team played one match against each of the other teams, playing a total of eleven matches each, and for the first time matches were played on fixed Saturdays. The top two clubs were promoted to National Division 2 and the bottom two relegated to Area League North or Area League South depending on locality.

Participating teams and locations

TeamStadiumCapacityCity/AreaPrevious season
AskeansBroad Walk1,500 Kidbrooke, LondonPromoted from Area South
ExeterCounty Ground5,750 Exeter, Devon9th
FyldeWoodlands7,500 Lytham St Annes, Lancashire6th
MaidstoneWilliam Davey Memorial2,000 Maidstone, Kent8th
Metropolitan PoliceImber Court3,500 East Molesey, Surrey7th
NuneatonHarry Cleaver Ground5,000 Nuneaton, Warwickshire10th
Plymouth AlbionBeacon Park1,950 Plymouth, Devon3rd
RugbyWebb Ellis Road3,200 Rugby, WarwickshirePromoted from Area North
SheffieldAbbeydale Park3,300 Dore, Sheffield, South Yorkshire4th
Vale of LunePowderhouse Lane9,860 Lancaster, Lancashire5th
WakefieldCollege Grove4,000 Wakefield, West Yorkshire1st
West HartlepoolBrierton Lane4,950 Hartlepool, Cleveland2nd